Ren didn't show up to school the next day.
By lunchtime, the rumors had spread.
"He's sick?""Did he catch a cold on the trip?""I saw him sneeze yesterday…"
By the time last period ended, all five girls were already checking their phones.
One message changed everything:
Ren → Emi:
"Sorry I didn't text sooner. Think I caught a fever."
That was it.
No emojis. No dots. Just those nine words.
Emi stood silently.
Rika was already packing her bag.
Yui mumbled something about "stupid boys and their stupid weak immune systems."
Haruka quietly grabbed a thermos from her locker.
Mei… had already disappeared.
30 minutes later… at Ren's apartment.
He was curled up on the couch, blanket half-off, lips dry, face flushed.
The doorbell rang.
He didn't answer.
Because five seconds later, it opened anyway.
"Spare key under the plant pot?" Mei said aloud. "Classic."
One by one, the girls stepped in.
Emi dropped her bag. "You look like trash."
Rika poked his forehead. "38.4°C. Tsk, amateur fever."
Yui crossed her arms. "I brought meds. Don't make me spoon-feed you."
Haruka silently set a warm towel on his head.
Ren groaned. "Am I… hallucinating?"
Mei knelt beside him. "Not unless you dream of emotional tension and half-boiled porridge."
"…Okay. Yeah. I'm dying."
What followed was complete chaos:
Rika argued that her miso soup was better than Emi's porridge.
Haruka kept refolding his blanket every two minutes.
Yui threatened to slap him if he didn't drink water.
Mei fed him pills without a word.
Emi held his wrist like a nurse, checking his pulse. ("I googled it.")
And yet…
None of them said what was really on their minds.
No one brought up the classroom laugh.Or the rooftop conversation.Or Mei's walkout.
Because this was a truce. A pause.
One small moment where everyone could pretend…
That they weren't hurt.That they weren't scared.That they weren't competing anymore.
Ren fell asleep to the sound of bickering and someone humming softly.
When he woke up—
It was night.
Only one girl remained.
Yui.
She was sitting by the window, staring out at the city lights.
He whispered, "...You stayed?"
She didn't turn.
"I never left."
Pause.
"Ren?"
"Yeah?"
"If you get better tomorrow… do you think you'll finally know who you want?"
He didn't answer.
She didn't ask again.